[Neurological complications during treatment of the tumor necrosis alpha inhibitors].

Medications with TNF-alpha inhibitors family are successfully applicable in rheumatology, gastroenterology, dermatology and neurology. Still, the ongoing research on the safety assessment of their application, also due to neurological complications. The vast majority of these complications is associated with an increased risk of serious virus (Herpes simplex--JC) and bacterial (Listeria monocytogenes) neuroinfections. They can cause the occurrence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy--PML with a severe clinical course and poor prognosis or herpes simplex encephalitis--HSE. Meta-analysis revealed a number of cases of PML and the HSE in the first 6 months of treatment with natalizumab, efalizumab, rituximab, abatacept and infliximab. Common complication occasionally turning on this biologics is chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy or Lewis-Sumner syndrome. Described are cases of central and peripheral demyelination typical of multiple sclerosis (MS). Are also reported cases of motor multifocal neuropathy with conduction block acute encephalithis with polyneuropathy or mononeuropathy in the form of anterior optic neuropathy Guillen-Barre' syndrome and its variant, Miller-Fisher syndrome have been confirmed as adverse events following treatment with infliximab. Also revealed several cases of myasthenia gravis after using etanercept. In the few cases of systemic lupus CNS involvement caused by treatment with TNF inhibitors, the mechanism of these disorders is still considered too vague. Due to the emerging reports on the number of neurological adverse events of TNF antagonists, significantly higher than those described in the literature, the safety of their use requires further monitoring and multicenter studies.